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CAN Leadership:
This group has been working on several formal leadership areas in regards to the progress of CT CAN End Homelessness, including:
- Leading a survey to identify and address meeting and committee overlap across the field.
- Establishing CAN Leadership as the Steering Committee, as opposed to the creation of this new body, which will coordinate and collaborate with the Strategy and Governance Board and other Committees, Sub-Committees, and communities to lead the CT CAN End Homelessness Campaign.
- Conducting a Federal Risk Assessment and creating tools for Federal advocacy to mitigate upcoming cuts.
- Identify and nominate Emerging Leaders to this, and all other Committees as needed.
Policy & Advocacy:
On July 3rd, Congress passed a reconciliation bill (HR 1) that contained cuts to funding and increased work requirements for Medicaid and SNAP, which will negatively affect the homeless response system and people experiencing homelessness. The congressional Appropriations process is ongoing, however, and the greatest risk to Connecticut's homeless response system is the proposed consolidation of the Continuums of Care (CoC) under the Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG). You can read more about the risks to funding and infrastructure in the upcoming budget in our Federal Funding Fact Sheet.
In response, the Policy & Advocacy Committee are planning to bring together federal and state legislators, municipal leaders, providers, partners, and advocates for local site visits and discussions about the critical work of the CoCs and Connecticut's homeless response system providers. We will continue to keep you updated with more details as we plan!
Finally, we are compiling a state budget update for early next week. To recap: At the close of the legislative session, we saw the establishment of a permanent Interagency Council on Homelessness, new funding in the FY26-27 biennium budget, including a $13.2M increase for FY26 and $26.4M for FY27 in DOH’s Housing and Homeless Services line, and line-item increases for housing and homelessness for other state agencies. Next week's budget update will include new details on funding for cold weather, CAN hubs, and more.
You can view our initial announcement regarding our legislative results HERE.
Youth and Young Adult Sub-Committee:
The Youth and Young Adult Sub-Committee has been focusing on increasing income and employment and how to make data on youth homelessness more accessible. Members also participated in the legislative agenda setting process to advocate for flexible funding for young people on their own.
Last month, we held a training with Carrie Veillette from Yale’s STEP program, who gave a presentation on signs and symptoms of first episode psychosis, treatment modalities, and communication strategies to engage with a young person experiencing a psychotic episode as well as the the STEP LC referral line.
Exit Sub-Committee:
The Exit Sub-Committee has been working to improve Exit data and efficiency through:
- Partnering with Nutmeg to provide a walkthrough of the Exit Dashboard, including a how to filter interpret the data.
- Refining the Dashboard through direct testing and feedback by Sub-Committee Members.
- Reviewing, simplifying, and expediting of documentation processes to ensure minimal barriers for clients, as well as distribution a documentation list to all CANs
- Researching employment strategies focused on connecting clients to job opportunities and explored various approaches currently being implemented.
- Identifying “Second Chance” employers—businesses that are open to hiring individuals with prior involvement in the justice system.
Coordinated Entry and Outreach Subcommittee:
Over the past few months, the Coordinated Entry and Outreach Subcommittee has been actively evaluating the Cold Weather Season to assess what strategies were effective and where improvements are needed including. This work includes the completion and analysis of data from the Statewide Cold Weather Turnaway Tracker. This marks the second consecutive year of data collection—and notably, the first year that all regions across the state participated. The data provides critical insight into the number of individuals seeking shelter during cold weather who could not be accommodated due to limited capacity. This information will be instrumental in shaping future cold weather response efforts, particularly in determining shelter bed capacity and identifying funding gaps.
Building on this momentum, the subcommittee is now shifting its focus to developing comprehensive Extreme Weather Protocols, ensuring statewide consistency in responding to events such as extreme heat, flooding, and hurricanes. Additional priorities include onboarding outreach teams to a new mobile app that will enhance real-time support for unsheltered individuals and submitting targeted HMIS enhancement requests to strengthen our understanding of system inflow and outflow data. Together, these efforts aim to improve statewide coordination, data-driven decision-making, and ultimately, outcomes for those experiencing homelessness.
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